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Flint (RAH)
:Flint is a G.I. Joe character from the A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe vs. Cobra series. Flint is a classic example of a great, respected field leader. He is capable of making thorough tactical plans and executing them to a perfect tee. A natural leader who inspires his men to victory and credited with the success of several rescue missions in hostile territories. He is trained in many military skills including airborne, HALO jumping, ranger, helicopter piloting and is a Special Forces man. With all those attributes, it would not have occurred to many that Flint was a Rhodes scholar and has a degree in English literature. The life of an academe held little meaning for him and promptly got bored. Joining the military was the adventure he was looking for. But all that literary pursuit didn't go to waste. The same tenacity and concentration he used to get through his scholarly struggles is what ultimately got him through his many trainings. He brings the same scholarly approach in laying out tactics and strategies. Fiction A Real American Hero comics continuity Marvel Comics continuity He makes his actual Marvel debut in #37, as backup for a small group of G.I. Joe soldiers who have found Cobra at a local fair. Flint ends up "fighting" Tomax and Xamot onto the top of a roller coaster loop. He was only actually punching one of them but due to their telepathic connections, the other one felt every blow. The two Cobra officers eventually escape. Flint later proves to Lady Jaye he wasn't a complete jerk when he holds off a group of Cobra EELS by himself. This provides Lady Jaye with the opportunity to warn the other Joes of the Cobra attack. This almost costs Flint his life. While he was recovering from the beating he took, he started to confide some of his fears and doubts in Lady Jaye. She eventually forgave Flint's occasional arrogance and later fell in love with him. Flint and Lady Jaye then traveled to Scotland and helped Destro to reclaim his castle and title from an impostor. As part of the deal Destro gave them plans to the Cobra Terror Drome. Flint also had his more brutal side, as shown in a mission in war-torn Wolkekuck-Uckland. He and Lady Jaye stumble upon two Cobra soldiers. Flint is forced to kill his opponent. The other man surrenders to Lady Jaye. Flint says they cannot take prisoners, and offers to kill the man if she is not able to do it. In the end, the prisoner's knowledge of Cobra movements saves his life. Devil's Due Comics continuation When G.I. Joe disbanded, Flint and Lady Jaye marry. When G.I. Joe was reformed and they both came back, just as Flint was starting to write a book on his experiences in GI Joe, many of their teammates commented that Flint's marriage to Lady Jaye seemed to have a positive effect on him, causing him to mellow out a great deal. Flint resumed his duties as the team's primary tactician while Lady Jaye eventually became the Joe's Head of Intelligence and a field commander. The murder of Lady Jaye by Red Shadows member Dela Eden in front of him caused Flint to go up against Red Shadows alone. In reality it was a set up, allowing Snake-Eyes, Duke, Scarlett and General Rey to attack. Flint was able to confront Dela Eden, yet he could not kill her. When G.I Joe re-formed with a smaller roster and covert status (in G.I. Joe: America's Elite), Flint was called back to active duty. However, the death of Lady Jaye had caused him to seemingly become a new person. His face now bears scars possibly due to his more aggressive approach in battle. The charismatic, well-spoken and confident to the point of arrogance Warrant Officer was replaced by a sullen and brooding man who rarely speaks (when he does, it is usually to suggest maximum force against any size threat) and trains to become a better warrior at the cost of his humanity. Flint would eventually walk out of the team to pursue his vendetta against the Shadows. However, in recent issues of America's Elite, he found something else entirely - the Baroness, alive and dealing with the Red Shadows. Torn between duty and revenge, Flint chose to go after the Baroness, confronting her on her plane. Unable to shoot for fear of ripping open the plane, the Baroness defeated Flint one-on-one, promising that he would join Jaye soon. Flint is rescued after this by members of the G.I. Joe team, before the group as a whole is captured by Cobra Commander, who is strong arming Baroness and Destro. Baroness helps the Joe team escape by slipping Flint a key as she "kissed him good-bye" saving Flint and the Joe team members from execution. IDW continuation Write up G.I. Joe vs. Transformers Write up Action Force (British) Comics continuity In the UK, in an effort to internationalize G.I. Joe characters for the UK's Action Force Flint was the field commander of UK operations under the command of Trent in the comic series. Flint's real name was as David R. Faireborn and he was born in Lincoln, England.Intelligence Profile in ''Action Force'' 1. Flint commanded the sabotaging of an arms transaction between Military Armaments Research Systems and Cobra, during which an Eel was captured. Subsequently the Eel escaped and Flint and Snake-Eyes gave chase. After an Action Force team foiled an attempt to destroy the Eiffel Tower only to miss a bombing in Rome, Trent ordered Flint to lead an all-out assault on Cobra's London base. The attack was a success and Flint searched for details of Cobra's next operation and found a detailed plan of London's busiest shopping district. In the search for the Cobra agents planting the bomb the timer was accidentally triggered when it was picked up by Lady Jaye, but Flint forced the Cobra agent to reveal how to disable the bomb by handcuffing her to it. Shortly afterwards Action Force received information about a Cobra attack on an oil rig and sought to liberate it. However it turned out to be a scam by Destro, who owned the rig and had the Action Force team arrested as pirates. They were rescued by Quick Kick, but in the process critical Member of Parliament Elwyn Jones used the incident to get Action Force shut down. Whilst Action Force was suspended, Quick Kick struck out on his own to go to China to rescue his old friend, Michael Anke, only to learn he was the head of a Cobra splinter organization called "the Two-Headed Serpent". Flint demanded that a rescue team be sent and made Trent agree by threatening to resign. A team was sent in, only to find Cobra had already wiped out the organization and Quick Kick had been forced to kill his old friend. , , & The Action Force suspension continued although weapons testing was allowed. On one such test of the Mauler M.B.T. on Salisbury Plain Flint, Lady Jaye and Heavy Metal came under attacked from Cobra F.A.N.G.s but fought them off, little realizing they were being observed by Destro. Action Force was reinstated after it prevented Ahmed Hassan, the ambassador for Ishmali to the United Kingdom, from being kidnapped by Cobra. Flint noted Hassan's similarity to Shipwreck and arranged for the latter to take his place, allowing the real Hassan to evade capture. In the process the process Reece Jones, the policeman son of Elwyn Jones, was captured by Cobra but saved by Action Force. Elwyn Jones's attacks on Action Force crumbled and the unit was officially reinstated. , , & . The first official mission saw Flint lead a team to prevent rogue Cobra agent Tony Lander from releasing a lethal nerve gas into the atmosphere. When the archaeologist Susan Hoffman reported a monster in the sewers under London, Flint led a team to investigate. They discovered the Autobot Blades and the Decepticon Megatron. A battle raged in London, joined by the Autobot leader Grimlock and the mechanoid Centurion. Flint was forced to bring in more and more heavy weapons as reinforcements and give an order to use maximum force that could have resulted in Grimlock being killed with Megatron, though Centurion jumped in at the last minute to take Grimlock's place. , , , , & . Flint next handled a hostage situation when a school teacher was revealed to be an undercover Crimson Guardsman, then a mission in the Amazonian Jungle to attack a hidden Cobra supply base. , & Flint and Lady Jaye then made a visit to the American branch of Action Force to test the Armadillo mini tank. Whilst being transported back to Fort Wadsworth he was diverted to deal with Tomax and Xamot at a circus. , UK printing only in Action Force #31 & #32. The Action Force comic amended some reprints of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero in order to tie the stories into the Action Force continuity. Modifications to Twin Brothers to reletter the introduction of Flint were amongst the most prominent changes made. Back in the UK Flint ordered Airtight and Barbecue to prevent a terminally ill man from crashing a train loaded with explosives in London. He then visited a test range to tell Bazooka that a new gun did not work, but did not learn that the gun had been stolen by the Dreadnoks and recovered. & At another weapons test range Flint and Lady Jaye came under attack from Destro and a squad of Cobra Troopers. Although the troopers were driven away, Destro shot Lady Jaye in the head. Flint cursed Destro for (as he thought) killing Lady Jaye and swore "if needs be I'll tear you apart with my bare hands!" He stormed the London headquarters of M.A.R.S. and overpowered the arms dealer, putting his gun to his head. But Flint found himself hesitating about killing a foe in cold blood. He eventually lowered the gun and walked out. Flint thought that he lived a violent life but knew that "the day I let the violence in my life consume me so totally that I become as evil as the people I fight is the day I die." As he left Destro told him that in the reverse situation "I would have pulled the trigger." & Lady Jaye survived and came out of her coma. She was furious with Flint for not killing Destro. In a fierce argument he lashed out a hit her. He pointed out how easy it is to lash out and told her to fight him. She refused to rise to the bait. They continued to disagree. Flint argued they didn't have an unrestricted license to kill, but as Lady Jaye left she said that the next time Destro killed it will be a killing Flint could have prevented. Flint responded "it's not an easy thing to forget." Flint and Lady Jaye were reminded heavily of this when they later took part in a major operation in Venice where the team joined forces with Destro to prevent Cobra from taking over from the Mafia in Venice. Unbeknown to any of Action Force the whole situation was a sham to allow Cobra and the Mafia to form an alliance. , , and Flint subsequently undertook further missions in the Americas.Comprising the UK printings of , , , , , , & . From this point onwards the Action Force continuity follows the same track as that of the US comics with some additions. Flint was subsequently part of a team who tricked Tomax and Xamot into leading a team of B.A.T.s into Action Force's London base, both to test security and secure samples of B.A.T. technology. Shortly afterward the Dreadnoks Buzzer, Ripper and Monkeywrench kidnapped Trent's daughter and blackmailed him into sending Action Force to Rhodes whilst he delivered Ministry of Defense secrets. Trent complied with the first demand, but attempted a one-man rescue of his daughter, in which he was killed by Monkeywrench. Flint, Hawk and Snake-Eyes rescued Trent's daughter. Hawk offered Trent's post to Flint but the latter turned it down, feeling he could better honor Trent's memory in the field. He subsequently persuaded Dusty to stay in Action Force and co-led an Action Force team send on a mission to recover a Northrod B2 bomber crew who crashed on an island with top secret information. He was then part of a team charged with defending the Broadcast Energy Transmitter on a tropical island when it was attacked by Destro. Flint confronted Destro and prevented him destroying the device. Flint and Destro encountered each other once again in the Arctic Circle when a plane carrying the experimental Project Omega crashed there. When a F.A.N.G. attack on Action Force's base failed, Destro escaped in a stolen Snow Cat, pursued by Flint despite a blizzard. Flint's Snow Cat was destroyed when he captured Destro and the two foes were forced to work together to survive. However nearing their target Destro attacked Flint and in the process Destro's mask was knocked off and Flint was stunned by what he saw. They discovered that Project Omega had been destroyed and Flint knocked Destro out. Flint then led a team in Amsterdam who stopped Cobra obtaining a powerful laser driven by diamonds. Flint was assigned the job of drill master for the final training stages for the Super Trooper program, overseeing the last two remaining trainees, Joe De Niro and Glen Goddard. In the final training session Goddard sacrificed his life to save De Niro and a town, a situation that De Niro was furious about but Flint explained that Goddard would not be forgotten and there could only be one Super Trooper. Destro was held prisoner at Action Force's London base where Flint found he was uneasy about the interrogation methods, an unease that led to another confrontation with Lady Jaye. Flint found his uncertainty easing when Cobra attacked to free Destro, but was wounded in an explosion generated by Destro to escape. He recovered and sent Snake-Eyes to a uninhabited island off Sweden to investigate rumours of a covert Cobra laser research facility. After Snake-Eyes destroyed the facility, Flint retrieved him with a submarine. Later he led a G.I. Joe team in the Latin American county of Sao Cristobel who found themselves embroiled in an arms deal between Destro and competing sides in the country's civil war. Cobra intervened and captured a nuclear warhead but Flint showed his ruthlessness by activating the remote control to arm the device, forcing Cobra to flee. Once the Joe team had secured the warhead he disarmed it. Blackthorne Comics continuity Write up Dreamwave Comics continuity Write up Animated continuity Sunbow animated series Flint's first animated appearance was in the second G.I. Joe miniseries, The Revenge of Cobra, in which he was presented as the second in command, filling in for Duke as G.I. Joe team leader after Duke is captured by Cobra. Flint then became a recurring character throughout the first season, often alternating in the commanding officer role with Duke. To a certain extent, Flint and Duke were almost interchangeable, and when General Hawk was introduced, Duke was made second in command while Flint became third in the chain. Flint's romance with Lady Jaye was a common piece of the storyline throughout the show and one of the few things the cartoon had in common with the comic book. DiC animated series Flint makes a reappearance later in the second season of the DIC cartoon as the leader of the "Eco-Warriors." He fights with his team to stop Cesspool from destroying the world with toxic waste. As with many characters from the Sunbow era, Flint's personality was changed. He didn't refer to his relationship with Lady Jaye (who appeared in the first season, paired up with Captain Grid-Iron). Direct-to-video series Write up Toys Trivia * It has been rumored that he was named after G.I. Joe series writer Flint Dille. * Flint's real name was originally intended to be "Dashiell Fairbairn," not Faireborn: a combination of Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon, and William Ewart Fairbairn, who lent his name to a certain fighting knife. * In the Transformers continuity, Flint and Lady Jaye have a daughter, Marissa.Alternate History: Operation Carwash *In the 1991 catalog, concept art of Eco-Warriors Flint appears instead of the actual figure. External links * My Useless Knowledge biography Footnotes Category:1985/Introductions Category:G.I. Joe Team Category:Tiger Force Category:Eco-Warriors Category:A Real American Hero characters Category:Real American Hero Collection Category:G.I. Joe vs. Cobra characters Category:Spy Troops characters Category:Valor vs. Venom characters Category:Night Force Category:RAH 25th Anniversary characters Category:Generation 3 characters Category:Action Force characters Category:Action Force members